Citizens live under law's dead hand

There are worse places to be taken ill than Le Lavandou, a refined Riviera resort famous for its scented pines, breathtaking views and sparkling blue sea. But do try not to die there, because it is illegal.

"It is forbidden without a cemetery plot to die within the town limits," reads a surprising bylaw proclaimed this week by the mayor, Gil Bernardi, to draw attention to a grave new problem: Le Lavandou has run out of cemetery space.

With the old town cemetery full, Mr Bernardi was outraged this summer by the ruling of a court in Nice that his plan for a new one on an attractive seaside site planted with olive trees contravened planning regulations.

Acting on a complaint by a local environmental group, the court decided that the site he proposed fell within the scope of strict recent regulations governing what may and may not be built in coastal areas of outstanding natural beauty.

The law, which forbids "heavy and permanent" construction along the much-abused Mediterranean coast of France, has been invoked by several local councils to outlaw unsightly beach bars and restaurants from Corsica to Saint-Tropez.

But in this case, Mr Bernardi said, the court's decision was "an abusive interpretation of the regulations".

Nearly a third of Le Lavandou's 5,500 residents are over 65, he pointed out, and 80 people die in the town each year: 19 await permanent resting places, housed temporarily in friend's burial vaults.

The mayor rejected the alternative site proposed by the environmentalists: a disused quarry just outside town.

"We can't bury bodies in a dump," he said. "This is an important issue concerning religious faith and respect of the dead."

He admitted that the bylaw was something of a publicity stunt. "It's an absurd law to counter an absurd situation. But it's working: no one's died here since it was passed, and I hope it stays that way."